Rosemary must have started recalling as soon as she cleared the Ogre Camp. Her HP fell substantially over the course of the st few pys, so even she deemed it too risky to linger around. Not to mention, she was around Lv. 6 by now, so it was a good time to upgrade her gear.

  She got a lot of gold for sg all these kills. Howard thought. Wheurns, she'll be ahead of everybody in far more than just her level.

  This was an early sign of snowballing if Howard ever saw oep by step, Rosemary was establishing herself as the stro pyer otlefield. Her prew higher and higher, bending the rules of the game in her favor.

  To avoid any further mess-ups that could lead to more snowballing, Howard made sure t up the topic with the team. "At this point, I'd even be wary of fighting her even in a 2v1 situation.”

  "an," Roi objected. "Me and Dan kick her ass no problem, right, amigo?"

  "Yeah, pretty sure we ," Dan agreed. "She’s totally within snowballiory, but for now, she’s manageable. Or, at least, she WILL beanageable once I get a few more levels, haha..."

  "Yeah, man,” Roi ented. What's up your level, lol. You're ing enough!"

  "I'm w on it."

  Even now, Dan was still severely gging behind. Everybody had already hit Lv. 5 while he was still at Lv. 3. It was embarrassing.

  Fortunately, the exp granted by creeps scaled up based on their level. So, as the game proceeded, the creeps naturally granted a bit more exp than they did before. This will help Dan to catch up to the others. And once he does, he’ll be able to give Rosemary a real fight!

  “I agree that you two specifically should be able to handle Rosemary together because of your teamwork,” Howard said. “But, only after Dan hits Lv. 5. After that, you’re free to 2v1 her if a good opportunity presents itself, but don’t go assuming it’ll be easy”

  “Hell yeah, let’s grinned. “We gonna mop that snowballing chick!”

  “Word!” Dan nodded.

  “I’m sure Ellen and I also hah her,” Howard added.

  “Aardy~” Ellen smiled. “Are you saying that we’re, like, the best couple around~?”

  "... yeah, sure. Anyway," Howard tinued. "These are the only pairs whose teamwork I trust enough for this. So, if you run into Rosemary in any other bination, avoid fighting uhe odds are greatly in your favor."

  "Got it," Julia respohe same way everybody else did, but deep down she was unsatisfied. So basically, no matter the situation, I'm not allowed to fight her at all. It's like he iionally made up that rule to annoy me.

  Sure, Julia already died o the hands of that Werewolf, but was that reason enough to forbid her any further iion with that beast

  I’ll totally win the fight! Julia asserted. I’ll MURDER that cocky girl!

  Unfortunately, all these extreme thoughts were written on her face. That earned her a gre from Howard.

  ... whatever. I’ll just stick to defense for now. This was an important game for her, she was supposed to prove her worth as a member of the first-string. And, getting killed by the enemy Jungler definitely wasn't helping to leave a good impression.

  I know I'll score a lot of points if I kill that stupid wolf. Julia thought. But, that's hel risky. Howard will tear me apart if I go against his orders and fail.

  With these siderations in mind, all of Julia's engines cooled down. Now, her head was filled to the brim with defense. She resigned herself to slowly and steadily rag up points for a positive impression.

  In the meantime, Rosemary took the exact opposite approach. The girl was feeling herself and assaulted StormBlitz nonstop after returning from the base.

  "elia, please do not use your sm skill on this wave," Fiona requested. "I pn to rotate over there for a fnk attack, so I would like you to lure your oppo deeper into your territory."

  "Hmph. Very well." elia nodded. "Though it is unbeing of a noble like myself to surrender ne trol in such a manner, I shall oblige for the greater good."

  "Thank you kindly."

  And so, elia did as instructed and refrained from using her "Noble Sm" on the enemy. This was as good as letting that plebian take full trol over the ne. Disgusting.

  But, sihe request came from a fellow noble, elia pyed along this time. Knowing Fiona, this iment will pay off in the long run.

  Frustratingly, Hitter ehis turn of events a little too much. Unlike elia, he had no iions of holding anything back during this wave, so he unleashed Takedown on one of the swordsmen and flung the helpless soldier into the pack of bowmen. BAM! There was colteral damage.

  From there, the cocky Viking moved on to directly attack the bowmen with his axe. The man had no qualms about invading elia's territory uninvited. What's more, he had no iion of paying her any taxes, either.

  Hmph, very well! elia puffed her chest. Then, I shall respond in kind!

  And so, she moved toward the enemy bae too. She will not fall behind some plebian!

  "elia, please retreat." Fiona phrased it as a request but her sharp to it was an order. "There is o test him this mu this wave. Remember, yoal is to lure him in so I gank."

  "Oh... yeah, of course. I remember." Admittedly, for a moment there, elia fot all about that grand pn. She was too ed about this pesky vermin invadierritory. After all, it was su unfivable offense!

  heless, with respect to Fiona's request, elia quietly retreated. And so, quite regrettably, the ne exge ended in elia's utter defeat. Though she swung her axes nonstop at the enemy swordsmen, she was uo pete with the Viking's head start.

  Of course, you only won this bout because I let you have this short-lived victory. elia expined. I let you win the fight so I win the war. This is a tactic befitting a noble such as myself, clearly alien to a oner like you.

  This was the first time in this game that elia lost the ne exge in su embarrassing manner. Until now, she was holding her ground against Hitter without any trouble. This sacrifice better pays off in the end.

  Of course, a simpleton like Hitter couldn’t prehend elia’s noble iment. As such, the man foolishly pushed onward after establishing his advantage. He must’ve been happy to finally get the edge over elia, as fake as it was.

  In the meantime, Fiona made her way to Top. She was now in a great spot to gank this overfident peasant. Surely, she shall unleash ribution upon this oner!

  However, as it turned out, Fiona and elia weren't the only ones with a pn here.

  "Roi, they're likely luring you into a gank," Howard said.

  "Yep, figured as much." Roi nodded. "I mean, this chick has been hel petitive this whole game, so no way she'll suddenly decide not to use her sm and lemme take ne advantage for free."

  "Ae knowing that, you're still pushing."

  "Hey, lemme have some fun, okay?” Roi chuckled. “I've been holding back this whole game because their dang Jungler is always roaming about. So, now I get this juicy opportunity and there's no way the Wolf is here yet, so I ush while I have the ce."

  "That's reasonable," Howard ceded on that point. "Alright, you push a little.”

  “Heck yeah, let’s go! Lol.”

  “Dan,” Howard turo the Jungler. “After you've doh the wolves, move closer to Top, just in case. We have to make sure there won't be any unfortunate is there."

  "Got it, cap!"

  And so, Howard allowed Roi to extend just a little further into eerritory. Permitting the pyers to let loose like this on a while was good for morale. On top of that, an aggressive py like this will reassure the team that they weren't pletely at Rosemary's mercy.

  Not to mention, StormBlitz had to start building up some momentum. It was already time for mid-game, yet the Valkyries still held all the advantages, all thanks to Rosemary's dominance.

  So, a rare opportunity to push was a godsend. It was clearly intended as bait, but Howard was going to take full advantage of it.

  There is a little bit of risk, but this isn't anything Roi and Dan 't handle. Howard thought. It's more important for us to start taking initiative, even if it involves some risk.

  It erhaps a tad uncharacteristic for him to think this way. He almost sounded like Yuel there.

  But, there was some merit to taking occasional risks. The scrim against the Leopards proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that sitting on the defense 24/7 wasn't going to cut it at the regionals. Every now and then, StormBlitz had to go out of their way and take a few small risks to seize trol over the flow of the game.

  With that said, unlike Yuel, Howard was all about minimizing risks. He couldn't stand the sight of a gaping hole ieam's defehat's why he positioned Dan nearby just in case, even though Roi should be able to get away even from a 2v1 situation all by himself. The less risks, the better.

  And so, with Dan ready to be deployed at a moment's notice, there was no catastrophe that could possibly strike Top in this round. Or, so Howard believed...

  DarkestCymore